One fun thing was that my dear friend Joy came to meet me for dinner on the night we arrived in Orlando. We ate at Pizzeria Uno which we don't have in Utah but was one of our favorites in Cambridge. It was so good to catch up. Isn't it great how some friendships can endure years of spotty contact and just kind of pick up where you left them? It was so nice of her to drive down to see me and so nice of Marshall to take on their boys alone so that we could.
It was so wonderful to spend some time with my sisters. Nicole had the whole trip so fabulously planned that the rest of us could just follow and enjoy. We covered an amazing amount in the single day we had at each of the parks.
We had a great time together and were sure that our families would have been glad not to be there to see us having so much fun (ie embarrassing ourselves with public singing and laughing and dancing). Our enthusiasm was so obvious and our matching attire so noticeable that we were invited to be in two parades!
There were all sorts of other magical moments -- little things that disney people did to make the trip special -- free personalized mickey ears for all of us, birthday cake 4 times, 3 birthday serenades (including one from a talking trash can), fast passes to the front of the line for all of us on the ride of our choice.
Our schedule was Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, then Magic Kingdom. We really were able to see nearly everything we wanted to. One benefit of not having kids with us is that nobody needed a nap or fell asleep in a show or had a potty accident. It certainly made things less complicated and enabled us to squeeze more into each long day.
At the Animal Kingdom we saw a stone statue of a father with 4 babies crawling on him -- it made me think of what Allen (and his mom) were experiencing in my absence.
The last morning there, all of the other sisters had early flights. So Katie took Jen and Me back to Epcot to catch some characters. What a fun trip!
You look so cute in your civilian clothes on the last day. I'm sad I didn't have a later flight too. :( Anyway, thanks for the the reminder of many magical moments. Now, back to pictures of your kids...
ReplyDeleteThat looks so fun. I am impressed you all were able to do it. The matching outfits are cracking me up! I may have to call you for more details on this one. =)
ReplyDeleteThese blog entries are wonderful. I tear up when I see many of these pictures and hear of adventures that I would like to share closer and better. It seems that Disney World was a great bonding time.
ReplyDeleteThe downstairs looks great. We could probably squeeze in all the families between your house and ours. Wouldn't it be fun to let all the grandchildren have a sleepover someday, the older ones on our family room floor and the younger ones at your house. Should we try it someday?
Liesl, you are one terrific girl, and so helpful in our absence.
Love
Dad